West Orange LAX senior Mikey Berkman hits career points milestone | Observer Preps

Mikey Berkman III is a senior for the West Orange boys lacrosse team.

His father, Mike Berkman Jr., was a point guard who played college basketball.

The respective sports are different, but the younger Berkman credits his father’s approach to basketball as the foundation for his approach to lacrosse — an approach that has been pretty successful.

“My dad was a point guard in college basketball, so I’ve always had a point-guard mentality,” Berkman said. “I dodge to the goal, and people think I’m dodging to score, which is why I can get assists.”

Including his eight goals and two assists in a 19-10 win over Windermere March 1, Berkman has ducked, dodged, scored and assisted his way to 405 career points (in lacrosse, players are credited for one point for either a goal scored or an assist on a goal scored). 

“My dad (Mike Berkman Jr.) was a point guard in college basketball, so I’ve always had a point-guard mentality. I dodge to the goal, and people think I’m dodging to score, which is why I can get assists.”

Passing the 400-point threshold has put the West Orange senior and Syracuse University commit into some rarified air, as far as high-school lacrosse is concerned. Berkman is only the fourth player in state history to have accomplished as much and, according LaxRecords.com, he is the 76th player nationally to reach the milestone.

With 196 career goals and 209 career assists, Berkman is also on the precipice of another distinction — he likely will be the first player in state history to have at least 200 goals and 200 assists.

“He can shoot lights out, and he has all the offensive tools, but his vision — his ability to feed guys — just makes everyone else better,” West Orange head coach Bill Baker said. “He’s like an elite point guard.”

Although he grew up zoned for West Orange, Berkman played his freshman and sophomore seasons at Dr. Phillips High through the school’s magnet program. When he arrived at West Orange as a junior in the fall of 2016, though, it was a big get for Baker’s program.

“We’ve known Mikey going back to sixth grade, when he was coming up through the youth program,” Baker said. “To have him here is huge.”

A district champion and playoff team last year, the Warriors (2-0) have their sights set on an even deeper run this year, and Berkman will be the point-person for that mission. 

After his senior season concludes, he will have a college career for the Orange to look forward to — fulfilling what has been a lifelong dream of his.

“Both of my parents are from upstate New York,” Berkman said. “I have pictures of myself when I was six years old wearing Syracuse lacrosse shirts. … I’ve always wanted to play for Syracuse.”

In the meantime, though, Baker and Berkman’s teammates at West Orange are excited to see just how many more records the talented lacrosse player can break.

Indeed, after rattling off some of Berkman’s many accolades so far, Baker smiled and added, “And he’s still going.”